Our Receivers Are Already Better Than In 2022

[PowerRunRevival]

All I know is what I read. Maybe he had a pro day in 2017 and someone at foxsports screwed up. Whatever.
Yeah I also like more speed and more importantly explosiveness, ala Edelman.
Thats not either one of these guys

You read that juju ran 4.54 in 2017 and got confused because the times were listed in the same paragraph.

Here is the quote:

Why did Patriots replace Jakobi Meyers with JuJu Smith-Schuster? | FOX Sports

Why did the Patriots replace Jakobi Meyers, a perfectly good WR2, with another WR2? Maybe because Bill Belichick thinks JuJu Smith-Schuster can do more.

www.foxsports.com

They're similar players: big slot receivers who have the versatility to play outside and inside. Smith-Schuster is 26 years old. He's 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds. He ran a 4.54-second 40-yard dash at the 2017 NFL Combine. Meyers is also 26. He's 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds. He ran a 4.63 40 during his pre-draft process in 2019.

 

[mgteich]

No. They are not.
OTs are better? Really on what basis

Wishful thinking. By far the worst group in the division.

So, let's be clear.
Wynn (40% of snaps) and Cannon (20%) have been replaced by
Anderson and Reiff
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Your position is that there hasn't been improvement. So, for you, we'd be better off with Wynn and Cannon.
NONSENSE!

 

[Wozzy]

All I know is what I read. Maybe he had a pro day in 2017 and someone at foxsports screwed up. Whatever.
Yeah I also like more speed and more importantly explosiveness, ala Edelman.
Thats not either one of these guys

Edelman ran a 4.52… you’re not helping your argument. I’m beginning to think you’re making it up as you go.

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I've done a 180 and think BB surprises and goes playmaker in the 1st round. I'm hoping for Zay Flowers.
I know OT or CB is the safer bet, but the pressure is on this team (and BB the GM) in a major way.
I wouldn't be surprised if he trades down to mid-20's, and tries to get Zay, or even TE Mayer.
(I don't know why some mocks have them taking Bijan at #14, that's stupid. We have Rham & Strong & just signed Robinson)

Were you a David Terrell guy too?

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

No Higgins?

No Jeudy?

We move.

Bring him home to Boston. 49ers don't have a first. Aiyuk is a Lance guy. He's versatile can play inside outside. Blocks his ass off. Ascending player. There's been rumors about him to NYG, KC. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for us.

 

[Brewskies]

Our offense will be short passes over the line of scrimmage and running plays. Not exciting, but enough to get TO THE GOAL of making the playoffs. The offense will be supported by a strong defense keeping the opponents In check from scoring.

Go Pats

 

[BTTA]

You can’t undeclare for the NFL draft. You can in the NBA but not the NFL.

Nonsense. I've done it several times, including just last year.

 

[Triumph]

Makes no sense.

JUJU is coming in and thats great, but he brings impressive numbers because Mahomes was throwing to him.

Gesicki had Hill and Waddle drawing coverage.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Nonsense. I've done it several times, including just last year.

Nobody caught that and called you from the league office?

 

[Since1960]

Our receiving corp is already better than in 2022. We have

1) a better OC

2) a better OL coach

3) a 2nd receiving TE

4) improved OT's

5) the addition of a receiving RB

6) Thornton, Bourne and Parker should all be better with better coaching and with another year together
=================
I believe that Belichick will continue to
6) try to find a top receiver at a reasonable price
7) bring in competition for camp (also needed in case of injury)
8) Look for a 5th receiver in the draft
===========
HOWEVER, Belichick may be more satisfied with what we have than we are, with 7 targets behind an improved OL.

WR: Shuster, Thornton, Parker, Bourne
TE: Henry, Gesicki
RB: Harrison

Yeah but, is better good enough? Remember the line about no defensive coach’s losing sleep over our receiving corps - do you think any of them have gone to pick up some Melatonin at their local drugstore yet??

 

[Wozzy]

Makes no sense.

What makes no sense?

Bill O'Brien instantly fixes the scheme on this offense, if nothing else they'll be closer to 2021 in week one, probably better.

JUJU is coming in and thats great, but he brings impressive numbers because Mahomes was throwing to him.

Juju's best season wasn't with Mahomes, he has produced regardless of who the QB was. He is a solid slot/possession WR, a faster Jakobi Meyers for less money.

Gesicki had Hill and Waddle drawing coverage.

Gesicki barely got looks in 2022 with a new coach, he got demoted and was second on the team in snaps at the TE position. His best numbers were from the year prior when he had Devante Parker drawing coverage.

All this ^ above proves is you assume the worst before doing any actual research to see if it's true.

 

[Wozzy]

No Higgins?

No Jeudy?

We move.

Bring him home to Boston. 49ers don't have a first. Aiyuk is a Lance guy. He's versatile can play inside outside. Blocks his ass off. Ascending player. There's been rumors about him to NYG, KC. If it's good enough for them it's good enough for us.

He's not better than the guys we have. The 49ers overvalued and drafted him way too high.

We'd be better off drafting WR's with the picks we'd need to trade for him.

 

[Rob0729]

The receiving corp is better, but not significantly yet.

The wild card is Thornton. How much was he held back because of poor coaching last year? Will he make a jump? The one plus is that many of his biggest deficiencies last year (stopping on routes when he should have stayed in stride, not being able to properly work the sidelines) are coachable. If O'Brien and Brown can coach these things out of him, he has the potential to be a really good WR.

 

[Sicilian]

The receiving corp is better, but not significantly yet.

The wild card is Thornton. How much was he held back because of poor coaching last year? Will he make a jump? The one plus is that many of his biggest deficiencies last year (stopping on routes when he should have stayed in stride, not being able to properly work the sidelines) are coachable. If O'Brien and Brown can coach these things out of him, he has the potential to be a really good WR.

I think this is the general state of the WR group as a whole honestly: How much of last year was their actual talent level, and how much was some combination of coaching (mostly scheme and play structure related), poor protection not allowing their routes to develop properly, and QB play (which itself is a similar debate)?

I think it's pretty easy to see how lots of WR's on the team COULD be much better in 2023:

Thornton - As you said, does he make a leap in year 2, and does the coaching help shore up his technique/role?
Bourne - With proper play structure does his usage fall more in line with 2021 than 2022?
Parker - Is the Parker that came on late last year the "real" guy or just a decent stretch that can't be counted on?
JuJu - He definitely has more raw talent than Meyers, but can he catch on fast enough to be an improvement in 2023 over Meyers' experience and reliability?

Each has a path to a much more productive 2023, but a lot has to shake out between now and week 1 before we really know if this group will be better. I think there's reason for optimism though.

 

[BaconGrundleCandy]

He's not better than the guys we have.

He's better than all the guys we have.

The 49ers overvalued and drafted him way too high.

I had a 2nd on him so a little high. Raw as hell needed to really learn the position but he's come a long long way. Dynamic threat inside and outside and blocks his butt off. Proven but still just entering his prime and scratching the surface.

We'd be better off drafting WR's with the picks we'd need to trade for him.

I agree at times but id take this established player over what you'd get in the 2nd.

 

[mgteich]

Yeah but, is better good enough? Remember the line about no defensive coach’s losing sleep over our receiving corps - do you think any of them have gone to pick up some Melatonin at their local drugstore yet??

This is indeed a good question. Of course, we could use a top receiver. It is not clear how much Belichick is willing to pay for an upgrade over Parker.
=======================
I think that the addition of Gesicki and Robinson is a major improvement.

The issue is whether the OL can give Jones enough time to go through his 3rd and 4th option, and how good Jones is at reading defenses. BOB will have an offensive game plan that will get the 7 receiver targets open.

 

[Zuma]

This is indeed a good question. Of course, we could use a top receiver. It is not clear how much Belichick is willing to pay for an upgrade over Parker.
=======================
I think that the addition of Gesicki and Robinson is a major improvement.

The issue is whether the OL can give Jones enough time to go through his 3rd and 4th option, and how good Jones is at reading defenses. BOB will have an offensive game plan that will get the 7 receiver targets open.

If we're not able or willing to acquire a receiving threat that will draw double teams...then I hope we draft more then one OT...preferably early. As you said, Mac will need time.

 

[mgteich]

If we're not able or willing to acquire a receiving threat that will draw double teams...then I hope we draft more then one OT...preferably early. As you said, Mac will need time.

I'm fine with a 1st round OT if we can get one of the top 3. I suppose that we might trade down for one of the others, but in that case I would want to draft a CB. I could even see us trading up for the OT that Belichick wants. The OT's seem likely to be drafted from about pick 7 to pick 13.

I don't think that we carry more than 4 OT's. Also, I don't see us have 2 rookies out of the four. So, if we draft a second OT, he would be a 5th or later player to compete for the Practice Squad.

 

[crawhammer]

The question should not be are the 2023 receivers already as good as the 2022 receivers. The question should be are the 23 receivers better than the 2021 receivers when the Pats offense was in the top ten in both yards and points with a rookie QB?

The answer is yes. Parker, Smith-Schuster, Bourne, Thornton, Gesicki, and Hunter are better than Meyers, Agholor, Bourne, Harry, Jonnu Smith and Hunter. In addition, Stevenson is a better receiving back than Harris.

The question really is the quarterback. If it's Mac then how much can he improve off what we've seen so far. And I'm not throwing anything out because "he was a rookie" and "Patricia sucks." We know the circumstances but Mac still stepped on the field and gave his best efforts which aren't going to be good enough with the current supporting cast.

I like Gesicki, he undoubtedly will be better than Jonnu who was an utter disaster. So the TE2 is improved. Otherwise there are a lot of assumptions being made that JuJu will be better than Meyers and the twig is going to make a significant year two jump.

Over the last two seasons Meyers had 150 receptions for 1670 yards and 8 TDs. Over the last two seasons JuJu had 93 receptions for 1062 yards and 3 TDs. Splitting the difference on Meyers numbers, if JuJu merely duplicates Meyers then he'll give us 75 receptions for 835 yards and 4 TDs. Those numbers are pretty close to JuJu's career averages of 67 receptions for 798 yards and 5 TDs (and that's factoring in the one monster season he had in 2018).

Keeping in mind what JuJu did as the WR1 with the league MVP Mahomes, and the genius offensive mind of Reid, last season in KC (78-933-3)... is JuJu going to give us 75-835-4? I'll say yes, but I won't expect much more than that, and ultimately he'll amount to a lateral move from Meyers.

As for the second assumption, that Thornton will make a big jump in 2023, I'm firmly a nonbeliever. At best he'll match Agholor's 37-473-3 from 2021. So in essence Thornton will become the new Agholor.

I like Parker and Bourne, in fact I like the trio of JuJu, Parker, and Bourne. A top 10 QB could make hay with that group. But we don't have one of those.

As for Stevenson, he's a better receiving back than Harris, but we already know that from last season when Stevenson was great, rushed for over 1000 yards and had 69 receptions with only 7 starts on the season. So the question is... is Stevenson / Robinson better than Stevenson / Harris? I say no, because firstly Robinson was terrible when last seen on a football field, and I think Harris' style of play compliments Stevenson better.

Bottom line, we either need a top tier WR1 added to the mix, or a better QB, or preferably both. Otherwise, another 8 or 9 win season is coming.

 

[crawhammer]

He's not better than the guys we have. The 49ers overvalued and drafted him way too high.

We'd be better off drafting WR's with the picks we'd need to trade for him.

Who's better than Aiyuk? The twig? Aiyuk has been very good for the 49ers, he's gotten better each season. You're hard pressed to find a much better WR duo in the entire NFL than Deebo and Aiyuk. Those two blow away any two-combination of Patriots WRs.